Một trưa ở nhà cô Bích

Chào các cô, chào các bạn!

We are Joo Soon (Tiến), Mian Yi (Lương), Wynne (Duyên) and Ying Kang (Huy)..presenting to you..the nem cuốn (Vietnamese cold salad roll)!

The Dish

Ingredients used:
Bean sprouts
Chicken strip
Chili
Fish sauce
Garlic
Garlic chives
Lemon
Lettuce
Mint
Prawn
Rice wrap
Thick ‘bee hoon’

Decorations:
Chili
Cocktail umbrella
Lemon
Lettuce
Parsley
Tomato

Account of our experience:

(1) Đi Chợ

The most embarrassing part of the project was shopping for ingredients. Imagine 3 grown up men pacing up and down the market searching for vegetables without even having the slightest conception as to what they look like. The group was exasperated and had to resort to asking for help from the passers-by.

Having finally conquered all odds and gathered the materials that were needed, the group then headed back home in preparation for the big day (such as steaming the prawns and washing the vegetables, not forgetting psyching ourselves up for the next day!).

(2) Nấu ăn
Just when we thought that the buying of ingredients would be the toughest part of the project, Saturday proved us wrong. The various hiccups that we've encountered are as follow -

i) Sauce: all of us took turns being the sacrificial lamb in tasting the self-made sauce needed, with
Lương being the most noble of us all (as the first person to brave the dangers of the
unknown).

ii) Rice wraps: being novices, we tore many (poor little) rice wraps before managing to come up
with a somewhat presentable roll. (Sorry cô Bích! =P )

iii) Chilli: Huy spent much effort trying to slice the chilli into 'petals' of equal proportion.

iv) Tomato: While carving the tomato, Duyên proved to be a threat to the safety of her group and
everyone steered clear of her (and Tiến decided to give her a spoon instead).

v) Decorative flower: Seeing the need for some decoration, Duyên (mastermind) took a flower
from an unknown source nearby while Lương (accomplice) kept a
lookout for her. =)

Complements
As our dish was an appetiser, we decided to serve it with vermouth (white aperitif). Taking into consideration that some other groups are making desserts, we brought along our reds (port) and authentic Vietnamese coffee as well to share the love with all our friends.

(Special thanks to cô Bích for being our official coffee taster!) =)

Judgement
Trying to localise the dish, we decided to take the risk and make the sauce a tad bit spicier. However, the teachers unanimously felt that the sauce was too spicy, much to our disappointment.

Perhaps we should have seeked the advice of our adorable little consultant (con gái của cô Qùynh) before making such hasty decisions. Oh well. =(

Ending comments
In conclusion, we would like to thank all the teachers - in particular, cô Bích (for hosting the event) - and friends for the wonderful experience!

The following are our individual thoughts:

Tiến: It has indeed been an interesting experience for me as I seldom have the opportunity to cook
and I must admit I was the main culprit in destroying most of the rice skins!! Destroying them
batches by batches!!
Lương: I really can't cook!! Duyên stop stealing food!! :D

Duyên: Having taken LAF1201 2 years ago, I must say that LAV1201 classes are really much
more interesting and interactive. Through this project, I've had to chance to meet wonderful
friends (read: Tiến, Huy and Lương), and I'm really thankful for that. =)

Huy: Good news: I spent less than 3 hours : ) Bad news: I lost my comb.